...and I don't mean Tom Berenger as much as the movie itself. I suppose "Blood Money" was taken, so things were really freshened up with that "and" in the middle. The movie turned out to be as derivative as its name, besides the snowy and cold setting it ain't got much going on for it. In his full feature debut, John Barr seems to have optioned for imitating many other, better thrillers, because the story of "Blood and Money" is familiar, predictable, slowly dull and seriously uninspired.
Tom Berenger gives us Jim Reed - a grizzled, seen-it-all Vietnam war veteran with traumas in his past, and in his twilight years. Jim's spending his days in Northern Maine, hunting and trying not to drink, but things start going south when he stumbles upon a dead woman's body and a big bag full of cash. "Blood and Money" doesn't try to invent or reinvent anything, and is aware of it, but that doesn't help it much. Throughout its 85 minute runtime it feels like watching a film that's constantly trying to find heart, emotion, tension, but somehow manages to achieve the opposite, feeling dry, heartless in execution and completely devoid of surprises. In process, the pacing suffered greatly.
There are many odd flaws in the writing, I couldn't figure out why some characters do what they do, the motivation/response sometimes appeared to be unclear, unreasoned. Despite Jim Reed seemingly trying to do good, he did more questionable things, to say the least. An anti-hero? If so, still a shabby one. Berenger's seem to be a good fit for such a role, and does his best at channeling Jim Reed's world-weariness and the years of hardships on his shoulders. "Blood and Money" is mostly a one man's show, but the script only allows Tom to do so much.
Clearly, it's a B movie, and perhaps even a passion project. Cinematography doesn't exactly excel, but it's shot thoughtfully and tastefully enough, and the locations (Maine's endless forests, rural small town's aesthetic, snowy hills and caves, etc.) do a big part of the work, though explored on a level I'd call underwhelming. The action, as little of it as there was, also called for mixed feelings. If they tried for realism, they kind of missed the mark.
No matter how much I tried to get into it, the writing and pacing kept their offense, and the sum is such that I can't even really recommend this movie, except for die-hard fans of Tom Berenger and/or films set in wintery locations. My rating: 4/10.
